Ask most people when they’d book a villa in the Mediterranean and you’ll get the same answer: August. Sometimes July, if they’re trying to be clever about it. Almost nobody says September, which is odd, because September is when the whole thing actually starts to work properly.

I say this every year to clients who wince slightly, as if I’ve suggested something a bit off. There’s a deep-rooted assumption that summer holidays belong in summer, full stop, and that anything after the school term starts is somehow a lesser version of the same trip. It isn’t. In a lot of cases, it’s the better one. It’s just taken the travel industry a surprisingly long time to say so out loud.

What actually changes once August ends

The temperature drops a few degrees, which sounds unremarkable until you’ve tried to enjoy a long lunch outdoors in 38-degree heat with

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